Gurjant Singh, one of the two men whose limbs were chopped off at a farmhouse in Punjab's Abohar.
Fazilka, Punjab:
Over a month after the murder of a 27-year-old Dalit man in Abohar, liquor baron and ruling Akali Dal leader Shiv Lal Doda, the main accused in the case, surrendered before the Punjab police here today.
"Shiv Lal Doda today surrendered before the Fazilka SSP office here. He will be presented before the court tomorrow," a senior police officer, Amar Singh Chahal, said today.
With his arrest, Mr Chahal said, a total of 24 accused have been arrested in this case.
Mr Doda surrendered before the police after Punjab and Haryana Court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition yesterday.
Mr Doda was booked for criminal conspiracy in connection with the murder of Bhim Sain, whose limbs were reportedly chopped off at a farmhouse in Abohar on December 11.
Despite police raids at Mr Doda's possible hideouts in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan, the Akali leader had remained elusive.
Punjab police had even issued a lookout circular against him to prevent the accused from leaving the country.
Mr Doda's nephew Amit Doda had turned himself into police on December 20, 2015.
Suspected henchmen of Mr Doda had allegedly chopped off Mr Sain's limbs, in the attack led by one Harpreet Harry after a heated exchange broke out between the two at Mr Doda's farm house in Abohar sub division area.
Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal came under fire over the murder, with the Congress accusing the party of patronising Mr Doda.
The probe by Punjab police had also come under severe criticism in the case as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) had accused the police of carrying out a shoddy investigation into the brutal incident.